$300 trial credit
Google Cloud gives you $300 in credit that still covers Gemini on Vertex AI
$300 trial credit that still covers the Gemini platform if you upgrade to a paid account before November 16
New Google Cloud users get $300 in free trial credit, valid for 90 days. Starting November 16, accounts that sign up or upgrade to a paid billing account can no longer spend that credit on the Gemini platform (formerly Vertex AI). To keep using it for Gemini, sign up for the trial and upgrade to a paid account before November 16. Existing trial accounts that haven't upgraded need to do the same.
- Eligibility
- New Google Cloud free trial users; existing trial accounts that have the credit but haven't upgraded also qualify
- Benefit duration
- 90 days from free trial sign-up
- Renewal terms
- After upgrading, usage beyond the credit or after it expires is billed pay-as-you-go
- Claim by
- 2026-11-15
The briefing
Google Cloud's free trial has long come with $300 in credit, and plenty of people use it to call Gemini on Vertex AI. That changes on November 16: if you want the credit to keep covering Gemini, your account needs to be upgraded before then.
What you get
- New users who start the Google Cloud free trial get $300 in credit, valid for 90 days from sign-up.
- If you sign up for the trial and upgrade to a paid billing account before November 16, your remaining credit still pays for models on the Gemini platform (formerly Vertex AI).
- If you sign up, or upgrade to a paid account, on or after November 16, the credit can no longer be spent on the Gemini platform.
- The same applies to existing trial accounts that already have the credit but haven't upgraded yet. Upgrading keeps your full balance, and it still expires 90 days after your original sign-up date.
- The credit has never covered Gemini API usage in AI Studio, or third-party partner models offered as managed APIs.
How to claim
- Open the Google Cloud free trial page, sign in with your Google account, add a payment method, and activate the $300 credit.
- Go to Billing in the console and upgrade the trial billing account to a paid account. The credit is used first, and you're only charged once it runs out or expires, so it's worth setting a budget alert.
- Create a project on the Gemini platform (Vertex AI), link it to that billing account, and start calling Gemini models.
See the Google Cloud free trial documentation for details.